


You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)

by theskybleedsred



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:16:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2196687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskybleedsred/pseuds/theskybleedsred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izzy Clark and Gwen Alderman are, for the most part, your average girls. When Izzy was offered a trip to London by two of the most difficult people she knew, Camille Brooks and Rachel Vaughn, she only agreed under the pretense that her best friend Gwen could accompany her. Camille and Rachel have a tendency to fuck things up, but when Gwen and Izzy meet Britain’s Golden Boys, things start to get even messier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, we're Mia and Jordan, and this is our first fic. Feedback is very much appreciated. :)
> 
> theskybleedsred.tumblr.com

***GWEN’S POV***

School has never been an easy thing for me. The stress gets to me, I break out and I stop washing my hair. I spend more time dry heaving than I do breathing, and by the end of the semester I’m ready to die. Today marked one week before the end of my junior year at NYU. I was currently working on getting my Bachelor’s degree in Art History, and then eventually work my way up. I fell in love with my art history teacher in high school, which eventually led me to falling in love with art history itself. Seeing the way he taught the class about pieces of art with so much love and passion (alongside the way his biceps threatened to rip out of his rolled up sleeves) made me realize I wanted to do the exact same thing. However, I didn’t think about the classes not relating to my field of study that I would have to take, and they were really eating at me this semester. Thankfully, I only had three finals to take before I was free.

“Gwen, are you about done?” my best friend Izzy screamed at me through the door. “I really need to shower before I head to my photo shoot!” I was not a morning person, and I had probably been standing with my head under the water for a little too long.

“Fuck off, Izzy! I’m exfoliating!” I yelled back as I hurried to finish my shower. Living with Izzy for the past year had been a blessing. She made sure I got up for class on time, as well as frequently showering me with gifts that she brought back from her modeling gigs. And she was a model, who wouldn’t want to live with a model?

I ran to my room, tripping over my scattered shoes along the hallway. I didn’t want to be late to catching the subway to my 11:00am Sociology final. After throwing on a pair of leggings, an old, ratty t-shirt, and my favorite vans before thinking twice about my clothing options, I grabbed my bag off the floor and headed for the stairs that led out into what was a beautiful New York day. Too bad I had to spend it inside a classroom pulling my hair out and chewing on the cap of my last good pen.

I hopped on the subway just in time for it to take off toward Washington Square. In order to keep myself sane, I had to keep telling myself that I, Gwen Alderman, would be going with Isabella ‘Izzy’ Clark to London this time next week. It will be a shock leaving the country for the first time and being far, far away from our Lower Manhattan home. Even though our home is quite cramped, I sure will miss the dingy furniture and brick walls. The the major flaw and downside to this trip is that we’re traveling with two girls more catty than Regina George could ever be: Rachel Vaughn and Camille Brooks.


	2. Chapter 1

***IZZY’S POV***

"I still can’t believe I let daddy talk me into flying commercial," Rachel scoffed as she swiped a finger on the arm rest of her chair. "This plane is absolutely horrid. When we go to Bali in winter, I’m insisting on taking the jet."

As Rachel complained loudly for at least the hundredth time about the lovely British Airways aircraft we were on, the stewardess made a brave decision to approach her. Her mistake was that she showed fear. Rachel could sense the most subtle hint of fear. “Is there anything I can do to make your flight more enjoyable, Ms. Vaughn?”

I inwardly groaned and shot a quick look at my best friend beside me, Gwen. Gwen continued to flip through her magazine as a smirk fought to appear on her lips. I turned my attention to Rachel and sure enough, Rachel’s head was cocked to the side and her famous mocking smile was taking over her features.

"You could start by cleaning this filthy plane. Do you even know what a duster is?"

I wasn’t surprised that the stewardess’ smile had quickly faded and she began to ring her hands. “I-I’m deeply sorry, Ms. Vaughn. British Airways strives to keep our aircrafts clean, I assure you—”

"Is that so?" Rachel took her time to swipe her finger over the arm rest once more and proceed to lift her finger quite close to the poor stewardess’ face. "Whoever you’re employing to clean it is, at best, inept. It’s disgusting."  
"Now, now, Rachel, we only have 30 minutes left. Try to manage." The girl beside Rachel said with a heavy sigh. It was Camille, me and Rachel’s only link.

"You must be getting me confused with Izzy and Gwen. I have standards, you know."

I took a deep breath and slid further down in my chair, which was, for your information, more confortable than the furniture Gwen and I had in our apartment.

Gwen nudged my arm and I was met with a rueful smile. “Don’t let her get you down, Iz,” she whispered, “we’re almost to London. The place we’ve dreamed about going to since high school.”  
I didn’t open my mouth in fear that I would experience a bad case of word vomit, so I settled on a nod and closed my eyes.

++++++

It was Friday, May 16th, and it was the day the four of us were going out drinking together. Usually I don’t like to drink around Rachel or Camille, and I don’t like being around them when they’re drinking, either, but I couldn’t exactly get out of it. Gwen and I were stuck with them for the summer. So Gwen and I would have to watch our mouths tonight.

I wouldn’t refer to myself as ‘girly’ by any means, but Gwen talked me into wearing something more girlier than I would normally go for. I slipped on the baby blue floral brocade crop top and the rag & bone leather shorts Gwen convinced me to wear. I caught my reflection in the gargantuan mirror in my temporary bedroom and my eyebrows raised. The color of the brocade definitely brought out the blue in my eyes and made my skin look less pale and more refreshed. As I was putting on my white stiletto sandals, Gwen walked into my room.

"Camille and Rachel are getting impatient, are you almost done?" Gwen fluffed her hair a bit as she spoke. "Wow, Iz, you look great! I knew that top would look amazing on you. Take my advice more often." She looked quite dazzling as always in the dark navy dress she was wearing.

I flipped her off and laughed before taking one more look at my makeup and hair before following her out of my room.

Rachel’s eyes scanned over my outfit, seething with a look of distaste, before she shot a look to Camille. Camille’s eyes widened upon seeing my attire, and I couldn’t tell if she approved or disapproved. Gwen jumped in before things got too tense. “Are we all ready now? We don’t want to leave too late.”

"We’ve been ready. Izzy was the one we were waiting on." Rachel snarled before she turned around and walked through the kitchen to the foyer. We followed closely on her heels, our shoes clacking against the marble as we made our way to the car idling in front of our summer home.

As we were sat in the back of the car, my mind began to wander to the current situation I found myself in. I never would have imagined I would be sitting in a Bentley on the way to a popular club in England. Growing up, I never thought I would ever even leave America. It’s all thanks to Camille. She can be a snob sometimes, but she’s good at heart deep down. Her biggest flaw is that she does a lot of what Rachel will tell her to do, and she is quite impressionable when it comes to Rachel’s ideas. It reminds me a lot of Gretchen from Mean Girls, except Camille is far from daft. The one thing Camille won’t budge on is me. Me and Camille had been friends for 2 years before I had the displeasure of meeting Rachel. My friendship with Camille had its ups and downs; we saw a lot of things differently. Yet Camille was open minded most of the time, so we were able to come to common ground.

Rachel is far from open minded. When I met her, things went downhill very quickly. Rachel doesn’t like anything about me and I don’t think she ever will. She thrives on the fact that she and her family are quite wealthy, as well as Camille’s. Rachel’s father is the CEO of a high class real estate company and Rachel’s mother comes from a wealthy Canadian family. Camille’s mother is an ex super model, and her father owns a very lavish watch business. Rachel always complains about my modeling career, always saying that modeling is for stupid girls, but Camille is able to respect it. On the other hand, Gwen and myself come from normal, working class families. My mother is a pharmacist, Gwen’s father is the owner of a moderatley sized factory that produces military weapons. To Rachel, our parents work lowly jobs and what they make is considered poverty. There’s no such thing as middle class in Rachel’s eyes.

The strangest thing about my friendship with Camille, and Rachel being included in that friendship, is that Camille doesn’t like Gwen. She’s always asking me why I hang out with her and pointing things out about her that she doesn’t like. I’ve tried to talk to Camille about Gwen and her problem with her, but it was futile and never ended well. I never got an answer and ended up more clueless than before. Rachel on the other hand, has taken a liking to Gwen which was a surprise to us all. I wouldn’t say Rachel is exactly nice to Gwen, but she isn’t mean, either.

"Why in the hell are there photographers outside?" Rachel demanded to our driver as he pulled up next to the curb.

"There’s a few socialites here, I believe." He answered as he opened the door for the four of us.

We didn’t need to wait in line when we got to the entrance of Funky Buddha, the doorman seemed to know Erica and Camille, and we were quickly moved from the chilly evening air and into the warmth of the club. Erica followed a very muscular man around a corner and up some steps to a roped off area which I assumed was the VIP section. We were seated and we were asked what we would like to start off to drink. Rachel ordered some chenin blanc, Camille ordered some cognac, and Gwen and I ordered some vodka Red Bulls. Rachel and Camille rolled their eyes at our orders per usual. We’re in England. I’m not ordering some damn wine and as usual, I’m glad Gwen sees things the way I do.

As soon as we got our drinks, Gwen and I had our own conversation while Rachel and Camille had theirs. Three vodka Red Bulls in and I was starting to get cigarette cravings. I slid out of the booth and picked my clutch up. Gwen got the hint and got up as well.

"And where are you two going?" Rachel said brusquely.

"Going out for a smoke. We’ll be back in a few."

"Are you fucking serious? I thought you quit."

"I never said I quit. I said I cut back." The alcohol wasn’t helping with my patience, so I turned around and grabbed Gwen’s arm. Rachel absolutely dispises cigarettes but tonight I didn’t want to hear it. I began to walk forward but I didn’t get very far before I was yanked back. I spun around to look up to a furious Rachel.

"Don’t fucking walk away from me when we’re in the middle of talking."

I felt Gwen’s arm around my shoulder; she could probably sense that I was about two seconds away from decking Rachel.

"First off, I’d greatly appreciate it if you didn’t touch me. Second, the conversation was over." I could feel eyes on us, our voices were raised. I don’t like unwanted attention, and Rachel seems to always embarrass me (which again, I’m not in the mood for) so I started to back away.

"I’ll be back in a few minutes. Cool your fucking jets."

Gwen’s arm was linked with mine as we made our way out of the back entrance which led to an alley. There were a few people out there already, laughing loudly and chatting amongst themselves.

"Did that really just happen?" Gwen said with a humorless laugh.

I fished my cigarettes out of my clutch and lit one before replying. “Of course it did. She can’t just be nice for once. She finds things to be pissed about.”

Gwen nodded and rubbed my arm before pulling her phone out, the glow of the screen lighting up her features. I leaned back against the cold brick wall and took a drag of my cigarette, the vodka starting to make more of an effect on my ability to stand in my heels.

"I wouldn’t put up with her, you know. She’s a right bitch."

At the sound of the chipper male’s voice, I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was a bit difficult to see his face clearly in the dimly lit alley. He had dark hair styled in a very messy quiff, and he wore a dark flannel, dark jeans with a hole in the knee, and boots. The grin he was flashing was all teeth and took up the majority of his face.

"I didn’t mean to scare you!" He laughed. "I’ve just been hearing her blather on for some time now, and I wanted to rip my heair out." He made a funny face and I giggled. "I’m Nick."

I grinned at him and Gwen stepped forward so she was parallel with my body. She was a bit protective when it came to me. Nick held his hand out for us to shake and a couple of girls walked up to us. He introduced them as Alexa and Pixie. Alexa looked quite familiar but I couldn’t place her face. We stood in the alley talking for about a half an hour as everyone but Gwen smoked. Nick and his friends had a great sense of humor and he had me in stitches the whole time. Nick was in the middle of telling me a story about a holiday he had taken when I felt my phone buzz in the bag.

where are you guys? rach is getting tired

I rolled my eyes before I texted Camille back.

"Looks like we need to go. Succubus is tired." I tossed my cigarette onto the pavement and told Nick, Alexa, and Pixie goodbye before Gwen and I started to walk back to the door.

"Oi! Wait!"

Nick was waving his arms while he jogged over to us. “I’m having a party at mine tonight and I’d love for you both to come and get acquainted. That is, if you can get away from your posh friends.”

I mulled it over for a second before shaking my head. “She’s been terrible tonight already and if I tell her we’re not going back with her, she’ll have a fit.” Gwen agreed. “But it was lovely to meet you, and thanks for the invitation. Maybe another time.”

"That’s alright. Let me give you my number though, I’d like to take you both to lunch soon."

"You’re so inconsiderate. We’ve been waiting for almost 45 minutes, Eloise." I was failing to find reasons to not punch Succubus before Gwen’s voice tore me from my impulses. Gwen knows more than anyone that I hate to be called by my first name. I was still a bit pissed Gwen let it slip.

"We met a few people outside and got caught in conversation. Sorry."

"And who were they? Drunken trash? I wouldn’t be surprised."

"Um, no, actually. They were really nice. They’re over there." Gwen pointed to Nick and his group who had just gotten back to their table. Rachel’s eyes bugged out so much that I thought they were going to fall out of her head.

"You were talking to Nick Grimshaw and Alexa Chung? And Pixie Geldof?"

I stared at her. She looked quite starstruck. Not much can phase Rachel. “Yeah, what about them? Nick also invited us to a party as his house later but I told him we had to go home.”

Rachel started smoothing her bob down and rubbing her lips together as she gaped at Nick and his friends.

"Nick Grimshaw is well known BBC Radio 1 host. Alexa Chung is pretty famous as a TV host and in the fashion world. Not too surprised you don’t know them." Typical Camille. But now it made sense why I thought I had seen Alexa before.

"You know, I uh, I don’t feel so tired anymore. Quite energized actually. I finished off your drink. Must be the Red Bull." Rachel took a few steps forward. "Why don’t you tell Nick we can go."

"I thought you had a busy day tomorrow." I snapped. I don’t know how much more of Rachel I could stand today.

"Like I said, Eloise, I’m not tired anymore. I think we can make a short appearance.”

 

An hour later I found myself sat in Nick’s flat listening to him talk about the guest he had on his show a couple of days ago. His flat had accumulated a lot of people and I was sandwiched between Gwen and a guy who I was pretty convinced was a model. I took a sip of my drink, my mind wandering yet again, the alcohol not helping. I saw Rachel talking animatedly with Alexa, who in return looked extremely bored. Alexa caught my gaze and rolled her eyes which made me end up stifling a laugh.

"So I have a few more people coming tonight who I don’t get to see very often anymore." Nick directed at me and Gwen. I nodded and took another sip of my drink. I opened my mouth to say something but Nick cut me off.

"I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take any pictures or blast it all over Twitter. They never get much privacy these days. Don’t get me wrong ladies, you seem alright, but I have to be sure. They’re quite good mates of mine."

Gwen and I looked at each other. “We wouldn’t do that. I promise.”

Nick gave us a smile and put his hand on my knee. “I didn’t think so, but I had to put it out there.”

He got up and socialized with more of his guests and I took it upon myself to get up to smoke on his balcony while Gwen went to talk to Pixie.

I was leaning over his balcony, enjoying the view below, when I heard the door slide open. I didn’t bother to turn around as I continued to smoke. The person leaned against the balcony right beside me, but it was silent for several minutes. I didn’t mind it, sometimes I like to get away from all of the noise.

"You ‘ave a light?" A deep voice with a thick accent questioned me as it tore through the silence. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I forgot that I wasn’t alone.

I grabbed my lighter and turned to hand it over when my breath got caught in my throat. Zayn Malik just asked me for my lighter. This must be one of the friends Nick mentioned minutes ago.

He took the lighter from my hand and gazed at me while the flame lit the tip of the cigarette, the smoke billowing between us. “Friend of Nick’s, yeah?”

"Something like that. He invited my friends and I here."

Zayn nodded and continued to blow smoke into the air around us. He looked absolutely beautiful. I know that’s strange to think about a man, but he was. His skin was making a gorgeous golden contrast against the white shirt he had on, and when he looked at me, his eyes sparkled against the light the moon was casting. Also, his lips looked quite soft, and those cheekbones… He resembled what I would imagine a prince from a fairytale would look like, or even an angel.

His voice once again broke through my daydreams. “What’s your name?”

"Izzy."

"Izzy, eh? Short for something?"

"Isabella. But everyone calls me Izzy."

"I’m Zayn." He said, even though I already knew. You can’t be in my age group and not have at least seen a few photos of One Direction or flick through a magazine that had put him quite high on a list of World’s Sexiest Men.

"Nice to meet you, Zayn."

Zayn looked at me through the smoke and a little smile appeared on his face. As I tried to think of something to say to try and keep the conversation going, I heard my name.

"Izzy! I have been looking—," Gwen exclaimed, but stopped mid sentence upon seeing who was standing next to me. "Oh… Hi." She said to Zayn before turning to me. "Can you help me get another drink, please?" Gwen asked a bit impatiently. She didn’t act like this very often, something must have happened. I raised my eyebrow before nodding at her and then put my attention back to Zayn who had an amused look on his face.

"Well, it was nice talking to you." I told him as I started to walk to the balcony door.

He looked at the ground as the corners of his lips kinked up. “Yeah. See you around, Izzy.”

As I walked back inside with Gwen and tried navigating through the hoards of people, I couldn’t shake the image of Zayn out of my head. Tonight was getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on Izzy?  
> Gwen? Rachel? Camille?
> 
> And what do you guys think of Izzy and Zayn's first encounter? :) Feedback is appreciated.


End file.
